Ashkenazi, Zebi Hirsch Ashkinasi, Mikhail Osipovich
THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA
he received an appointment as rabbi, in which post he remained until 1689. He probably resigned on account of some contention with certain members of his congregation, and left Sarajevo Arrival in for German}'. In Berlin he married Germany. Sarah (died at Lemberg Jan. 23, 1719), the daughter of Meshullam Zalman
Neumark, chief rabbi of Altona, Hamburg, and Wandsbeck. Mirels
On
the advice of his father-in-law he went in 1690 where the leading members of the congregation founded a study-house (Klaus) and in-
to Altona,
Ashkenazi as rabbi. His school became and pupils assembled from all parts to hear him but his income as rabbi of the Klaus was only 60 thalers annually, so that he was compelled to defray his living expenses by engaging in various stalled
celebrated,
202
magnitude of which becomes evident
in
view of the
fact that fifty years later 375 guilders was the usual Unselfish and salary of the chief rabbi of Berlin.
independent by nature, Ashkenazi renounced the perquisites of his office, such as fees in civil suits, etc., in order to maintain his independence, and accepted the high position only upon Becomes the condition that under no circumstances was he to be required to subChief Rabbi of ordinate himself to the congregation, Amor to be obliged to receive gifts, and that he should be permitted to presterdam. serve absolute freedom of action on all From the very beginning he encountered occasions.
Amsterdam a hostile party, whose principal leader was a certain Aaron Polak Gokkes. Indeed, the in
difficulties
on
May
with the directors became so serious
26, 1712, it
was decided
that,
to dismiss the chief
rabbi at the end of the term (three years) mentioned Ashkenazi announced in his letter of appointment. that he would not under any circumstances accept Serithis dismissal, which he regarded as unjust. ous difficulties arose. The rabbi's salary does not seem to have been paid, for in the register of the records of the congregation the present writer has found an entry to the effect that on Saturday, Nisan 4, 5472 (April 12, 1712), the parnasim sent a secretary and two attendants of the congregation to Ashkenazi to inform the latter that upon the return of the letter of appointment he would be paid the money to
which he was
Zebi Hirsch Ashkenazi. (From
the
" Transactions of the Jewish Historical Society," London.)
business pursuits (dealing in jewelry, etc.). After the death of his father-in-law, whom Ashkenazi had latterly aided in his official duties, one party in the
Jewish community wished to have Ashkenazi
in-
stalled as rabbi of the three congregations; while another party favored the election of Moses b. Alex-
ander Kothenburg. Finally it was decided that both candidates should serve, but alternately, each for a period of six months. Naturally, friction and strife over religious questions ensued, and finally became so intense that in 1709 Ashkenazi deemed it advisable to resign and resume his duties as rabbi of the Klaus. Ashkenazi was not, however, destined to remain in Altona long; for on Jan. 10, 1710, he received a letter of appointment to the chief rabbinate of the Ashkenazim congregation of Amsterdam. In addition to free residence, the office carried with it a yearly salary of 2,500 Dutch guilders— a sum the
still entitled.
Ashkenazi, however,
naturally declined to return this piece of evidence, a copy of which has been preserved among the official documents of the congregation. But worse was still to come. On June 30, 1713, Nehemiah Hiyya Hayyun arrived at Amsterdam and requested permission of the Portuguese congregation to circulate his writings, which Congre- had been published at Berlin. Ashgational kenazi thought Hayyun was an old Differences, enemy of his from Sarajevo and Salonica, and at once requested Solomon Ayllon.hakam of the Portuguese congregation, not to accord patronage to the stranger, who was unfavorably known to him. Ashkenazi believed himself justified in making this demand, as the Portuguese congregation and its rabbi had, from the beginning, treated him most courteously, and had already, during his term at Altona, repeatedly sent to him from the Sephardim of Hamburg, Amsterdam, and London religio-legal questions for his decision. Hayyun thereupon called on Ashkenazi personally and made an explanation; whereupon the rabbi retracted his accusation, stating that it was a case of mistaken identity. Meanwhile several members of the Portuguese congregation had submitted Hayyun's writings to the judgment of Moses Hagis, a messenger
from Jerusalem then sojourning at Amsterdam, who immediately discovered their Shabbethaian principles and tendencies and gave the alarm. He also called the attention of Ashkenazi to the dangerous doctrines published in Hayyun's book, whereupon the rabbi again warned the directorate of the Sephardim congregation not to support the author. Ashkenazi rejected a proposition to designate the objectionable passages, and declined to act as member of a com-
